The Most Embarrassing '90s Beauty Trends

If you're looking for cringeworthy beauty ideas, the '90s are all that and a bag of chips. Eyebrows were drawn on with Sharpies, highlights were streaky, and everything had glitter in it. We tied a flannel around our waist and traveled down the nostalgia rabbit hole to find the best of the worst.

In the '90s, only Brooke Shields was allowed to have full eyebrows. Everyone else was required by law to tweeze away almost everything and then draw it back in with a superthin line. Our brave ancestors relied on their friends to survive the brow drought. Former BFFs Courtney Love and Drew Barrymore may not have had very much eyebrow left here, but they had each other.

Gwen Stefani, the embodiment of a decade, took her penciled brows one step beyond by placing a jeweled bindi between them, then adding crystals along the bottom lash line that made it look like she was crying.

Before Ariana Grande and the ponytail conspiracy theories she inspired (it's a wig; she's covering a third eye in the back of her head; it's where her antennae are hidden), wearing a high ponytail fountain jutting out of the crown of your head was kind of common. Janet "Miss Jackson If You're Nasty" Jackson did it with long braids and a turban.

Every rose had its thorn, and every updo had its tendrils. The idea was noble—updos look stiff, so why not pull out some face-framing pieces to soften the look? Layering wasn't the art it is now, so the strands tended to just dangle there uselessly, slightly obstructing your vision. Julia Stiles wore the popular windshield-wiper version in 10 Things I Hate About You.

Another way to make your updo more exciting was to make sure the ends of your hair were spiky instead of tucking them in with bobby pins. This way, they poked out in all directions and confused the eye. Claire Danes got a young Leonardo DiCaprio's attention with these broomlike bristles.

The thing about wearing '90s blue eye shadow is that basically any amount is too much. (Need we remind you of the Mimi Bobeck character on The Drew Carey Show?) Here, baby Reese Witherspoon looks like she got into her mom's makeup bag and went to town.

During this weird blip in time, decorating yourself with glitter powders, gels, and sprays was acceptable—even encouraged. And no one thought this made them look like a stripper. Britney Spears liberally applied body glitter to her décolleté and shoulders, creating a vaguely sweaty effect.

Before co-washing and sulfate awareness, most hair products had the same alcohol content as Everclear. Texture was really important, whether you rocked braids, waves, or crispy curls. (Touchability, not so much.) Cameron Diaz hit the crimping iron hard for this Top Ramen hair look.

Coachella, shmoachella. The '90s had its own brand of boho hair, and it didn't involve wearing an oversize floral crown. Randomly placed braids were one way to signify that you were laid-back, maaaan. Madonna's take was very Sea Hag Chic: center-parted, disheveled beach waves with ropy braids.

Not red, not pink, but grungy brown lips were the thing. (There were so many lipsticks named after cocoa and raisins.) Women were drawn to the color because it was dark and moody, but not as try-hard as a vampy berry or goth burgundy. Mostly, it looked...muddy. T-Boz, Left-Eye, and Chilli of TLC all took time away from stapling condoms to their clothes to swipe it on.

And then there was that frosted nude-mauve color that wasn't brown but definitely didn't look nude. It seems like Tori Spelling, Shannen Doherty, and Jennie Garth all shared the same tube of lipstick at this party, and it's the most '90s thing we've ever seen.

Courtney Love, riot grrrls, and double-dutch jumpers had already called dibs on plastic barrettes. Then Jennifer Lopez really classed up the idea of doing your hair like an eight-year-old by adding diamonds.

It's around this time that women started wondering if wearing one bun was enough. Maybe the more, the better? Björk started the trend, and everyone was charmed because she's an adorable little Icelandic pixie who wears way weirder stuff all the time.

Everyone got highlights in the '90s, and they wanted to make sure you knew it. Lightened sections were big, bright, and super-obvious. Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt were unforgettable in their his-and-hers zebra stripes.